Murray Returns To D.C. Winner’s Circle For First Time In Five Years

Andy Murray, ATP Tour, Washington
Andy Murray (photo: Mike Lawrence/Mubadala Citi DC Open)

WASHINGTON, August 3, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)

Andy Murray earned his first Washington, D.C. victory in five years at the Mubadala Citi DC Open Wednesday afternoon. The three-time major champion from Great Britain came through a tough battle with American Brandon Nakashima with a compelling 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory to move into the third round.

Throughout the two-hour, 11-minute clash, the 44th-ranked Murray was consistent from the baseline against the 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals champion and also mixed up his game with a touch of variety, too. He won 82 percent of his first-serve points, saved all six of the break points he faced and outpointed the No. 70 Nakashima 78-73.

“I thought I did well. I hit the ball very well from the beginning of the match,” the No. 15 seed Murray said in his on-court interview. “I was struggling a little bit on the return. Brandon serves well, especially his second serve. I was struggling to create many opportunities on return. But I was just a little more solid than him at the end of the tie-break. He made a few mistakes. I put enough balls back in play.

“Then, I got the break immediately at the beginning of the second set and served it out pretty well from there. It was tight at the end. The courts and the balls are extremely slow here, so you’re having to work really hard in all of the games. It’s not easy to finish points. It was a good to get through.”

A Washington finalist in 2006, Murray can look forward to a Thursday prime-time slot under the lights on Stadium Court against top seed and World No. 9 Taylor Fritz, who defeated 233rd-ranked American qualifier Zachary Svajda, 6-3, 6-3. Fritz hit eight aces and 32 winners, saved all eight break points he faced and outpointed Svajda 60-43.

Eubanks continues his winning summer

Christopher Eubanks has always been loved by the Washington, D.C. crowds that flock to the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park to see him play.

On Wednesday afternoon, Eubanks’ fans packed the Grandstand court mid-afternoon for the American’s second round match against 161st-ranked lucky loser Sho Shimabukuro of Japan. There was little doubt about the outcome and Eubanks didn’t leave anyone disappointed, either. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-7 gentle giant from Atlanta won 6-3, 6-4 in an economical 71 minutes. He fired 11 aces and struck 28 winners overall.

“D.C. has always been a city that feels kind of like home,” Eubanks said in his post-match news conference. “For some reason, I have always felt very, very at home here. I don’t know if it’s the heat and humidity or what it is, but I have always felt really, really good here. May not have always played my best, but I’ve always felt pretty at home.

“The crowds I think contribute to that, so I really appreciate their energy today. It’s really fun to be able to play in front of a crowd like that.”

Eubanks, who is enjoying a career-high ranking of World No. 29 in a breakout season that recently saw him reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, won for the 12th time in his last 14 matches. It is a streak of good fortune that began with his title run at the Mallorca Championships last month.

Next, Eubanks will face 71st-ranked Australian Jordan Thompson, who eliminated No. 27 and seventh seed Adrian Mannarino of France, 7-5, 6-4, to earn his 100th tour-level win.

Also advancing in the men’s ATP 500 event:

No. 99 Yosuke Watanuki of Japan upset World No. 12 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada, 7-6 (10), 7-6 (3), to earn the highest-ranked win of his career.

Other Wednesday winners include: No. 9 seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain, No. 12 seed Tallon Griekspoor, No. 13 seed Ugo Humbert of France, No. 16 seed J.J. Wolf of the United States and French wild card Gaël Monfils.

Svitolina remains perfect against Kasatkina

Unseeded wild card Elina Svitolina achieved her 19th victory since April as she continued her mastery of Daria Kasatkina Wednesday.

The No. 27 Svitolina bested No. 5 seed Kasatkina, 6-2, 6-2, in one hour, 36 minutes on Stadium Court. It was her second win against Kasatkina this season and eighth straight triumph over the 11th-ranked Russian, in which she has only lost two sets.

From 2-1 down in the first set, the Ukrainian won nine consecutive games to pull away at 6-2, 4-0. Svitolina struck 29 winners — 22 from her forehand — and benefited from 32 unforced errors committed by Kasatkina, who was zero for 10 in break-point conversions. Svitolina outpointed Kasatkina 79-64.

The win advanced Svitolina to her fourth quarterfinal in her last five events in just her eighth tour-level event since her return to the WTA from her maternity leave in April.

“I just try to fight each time I play Dasha,” Svitolina expressed in her on-court interview. “She’s a tough opponent to face, and each time, I try to play just one extra ball over the net, to take and dictate the game. I’m really happy I won the match today.”

Next, Svitolina will face an American, either No. 1 seed and 2019 Washington champion Jessica Pegula or 59th-ranked lucky loser Peyton Stearns, who play on Thursday.

Keys reaches third consecutive quarterfinal

World No. 16 Madison Keys advanced to her third consecutive quarterfinal following her 6-4, 6-0 win over fellow American and doubles partner Jennifer Brady Wednesday night. Next, the No. 7 Keys will face either No. 4 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece or qualifier Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who play Thursday evening.

Also advancing in the women’s WTA 500 event:

• Defending champion and eighth seed Liudmila Samsonova of Russia advanced to the quarterfinal round after defeating No. 32 Sorana Cirstea of Romania, 6-1, 6-3, in their first career meeting.

The 18th-ranked Samsonova needed just 59 minutes to secure her first win against a player from Romania. She converted four of five break points and faced no break points on her serve. Samsonova outpointed Cirstea 55-32. Next, Samsonova will face either No. 2 seed Caroline Garcia of France or No. 34 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who play on Thursday.

• No. 6 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland advanced to the quarterfinals with an easy 6-1, 6-4 win over Lauren Davis of the United States to open play on Stadium Court. Bencic hit seven aces, won 88 percent of her service points, struck 23 winners and broke her opponent’s serve three times. She outpointed Davis 60-33 during the 88-minute second-round match.

Next, Bencic will face No. 3 seed Coco Gauff of the United States, who won a main-draw singles match in Washington for the first time in her career, beating D.C. native and 204th-ranked Hailey Baptiste, 6-1, 6-4. The World No. 7 broke her opponent three times during the 77-minute second-round featured night-session match on Stadium Court and outpointed Baptiste 61-44.

Looking ahead to Thursday

By the numbers

Men’s No. 1 seed Taylor Fritz improved to 17-3 on American soil this season following his 6-3, 6-3 victory over qualifier Zachary Svajda on Wednesday night. Fritz has won titles at Delray Beach in February and Atlanta last week.

“Quotable …”

“Playing Hailey, a friend, known her for a long time. It was really cool to play her in front of her hometown, and hopefully we have many more battles in the future.”

— Coco Gauff of the United States, during her post-match news conference speaking about playing against fellow American and D.C. native Hailey Baptiste.

 

Search

Brigitte Urban
Tennis photographer
camera lens

International Blogs

Dietmar Kaspar

Bandecchi siegt im Final-Thriller gegen Snigur bei den THERME ERDING OPEN

November 14, 2024

Robert Frank

TCG Charity Cup bringt 13.000 Euro für den guten Zweck

October 16, 2024

Florian Heer

Apostolos Tsitsipas: “Coaching ist etwas Persönliches!”

September 4, 2024

Podcast

Categories